Dance to the Beat
by leuska
Summary: His first steps upon returning from his 2week tour lead directly to a dance club, because that's where she is supposed to have fun tonight with their friends. Her legs are bare and long, oh so long, the high heels she's wearing only underlining the confidence of her sure moves on the dance floor.He continues watching, observes her shamelessly. After all, he's finally free to do so.


**Dance to the beat**

He stays in the shadows of the club despite his every nerve urging him moving closer to her. Yet he doesn't, merely keeps observing her. She has a hell of a sexy dress on, a dress that's distinctly familiar. He's seen it only once on her, while undercover on a mission in another club, trying to catch a drug mogul. He remembers how also back then, she was all smooth planes, sexy curves and sassy moves. Yet it seems like such a long time ago.

Her legs are bare and long, oh so long, the high heels she's wearing only underlining the confidence of her sure moves on the dance floor. He continues watching, observes her shamelessly. After all, he is finally free to do, her eyes roaming her body as much as he pleases. Took him only something under four years to get there. The thought brings a smirk to his face. Yes, it was a long and exhausting, sometimes excruciating and infuriating race. But boy was it worth it.

They are just four months into their relationship and Castle cannot help but wonder, even more now than before, where all of that endurance and patience not to act on his urges for so damn long came from. Now that he knows her, all of her, now that that he got a final taste of her, he cannot get enough. He was gone for less than two weeks and it physically hurt to be away from her. So if he was obviously fine - well, let's say _okay_ - for the span of nearly four years of no physical contact with her, how come that the last two weeks without her had nearly cost him his sanity? He should probably be scared at the intensity of his feelings for this woman. He is, on occasion, but most of the time, he is just so damn smitten with her. Oh yeah, he is definitely the girl in this relationship. Not that he minds much as long as there is a relationship. And God is there one.

She continues to move to the beat of the music, still all smooth and sexy curves, with a small secretive smile playing on her lips. Oh, how he wishes he could kiss that smile right now. Still he doesn't move, content to just observe her, drink in her presence after going nearly 13 days without it, but hell who's counting, right? Her eyes are closed as she dances, the colorful lights flashing over her face from now and then. Her hands, oh how he misses those hands, disappear in her loose curls on occasion before they fall back down again, her fingers playing around her body and skimming her sides, her digits teasingly dancing over her hips. His hands itch to touch her, so badly. He clenches them into fists at his sides.

He can see Lanie dancing close by, right next to them is Jenny and Ryan in a very tight and tangled mess. He cannot help but smile at that picture. They're definitely a happy ending if he's ever seen one. Esposito's familiar profile pops out from behind Lanie now and Castle has to suppress a smile at the intimate and possessive touch of his friend's hands the ME's hips. She smirks knowingly, writhing in his hands like a snake, compliant yet still indomitable. Castle knows that particular dance only too well.

Finally, his eyes return to the main focus of his observation because really, how can they not? God, she is so divine. And she's all his. It's still hard to wrap his head around it. The fact that no matter how many men may ogle her here and tonight – and there are quite a few – _he_ is the one who gets to take her home in the end. The shivering thrill the mere thought sends through him is nearly enough to cause his feet to unglue from the place he is currently rooted in.

Still, he stays put in the shadows at the very edge of the dance floor, wants just a couple of moments to observe her freely, his eyes roaming her body hungrily. He's dated woman that were generally considered beautiful. Hell, most of them were indeed hot. But looking at Kate, he realizes she is something else altogether. Don't get him wrong, she is just as gorgeous, hell who is he kidding, she's _more_ gorgeous than any woman he's ever had. Yet that's not it. She is more than just that, so far more. She is not just a pretty face, no, his Kate is _real_. And that multiplies her hotness a hundred times over.

He looks at her as she dances, fascinated to see her look so carefree. It's still something he has to get used to. As he keeps on observing her, Castle suddenly realizes how very young she still is. Barely 33 years old, she is still full of so much energy, so much fun and beauty and brains and wit and sauciness; it's a heady and most dangerous concoction. But he is willing to take the risk, anywhere, anytime, always.

Out of the corner of his eye – his gaze is strictly and unwaveringly fixed on her – he sees a man, also in his thirties, slowly creeping up towards her, his movements quickly engaging her in a dance. She must feel his presence then for she opens her eyes at last, openly runs them over the man, blatantly appraising him. Coming to the conclusion he's okay to engage in a round of dancing – _oh but he is so, so not_ – she raises her hands above her head, inviting him closer.

Something in Castle shouts disapproval, the green-eyed monster in him procuring an image where he rushes over and strangles the man on the spot, yet he stays put, too curious and oddly fascinated, _turned on_ if he is honest with himself, of how the situation will unfold. The fact that he trusts her implicitly helps a lot the keep his feet firmly planted, though the nails of his clenched fists keep digging into his palms almost painfully.

Beckett smiles at the man, a sultry look in her eyes, but Castle recognized the smile. He's seen her give that kind of a smile to a number of men, some of which were even her own ex-boyfriends, and he knows what that smile means. She is there physically, oh yeah, but emotionally, she is miles away. It has a strangely calming effect on him.

The guy seems to be encouraged by her body language and saunters closer, his body nearly grinding with hers, yet there is still no touch, a good five inches between the two of them. Castle looks completely transfixed when the guy, clearly encouraged by their dance, lifts his hands to her torso in the intent to grope her ribcage. However, the moment her dancing partner's hands touch her body, Beckett grabs the guy's wrists with lightening speed, firmly guiding them away from her body. She is still smiling, dancing erotically, yet her head is firmly shaking _no_ over and over again. The gesture is clear. _You can watch, you can dance, but you definitely cannot touch. _Because she is taken, Castle's mind supplies, and it makes his chest swell, leaving him feel more than a little gratified.

The guy tries to grab her anew and Castle might have felt sorry for the man - if he didn't feel like strangling him at the same moment - for he knows for sure what is to come. The guy's hand sneaks up, tries to grab Beckett's ass and that's the moment Castle's been waiting for. A quick flash of hand, a painful turn of the wrist and the guy nearly doubles over with pain.

_Serves him right,_ Castle cannot help but think with a flash of vindictiveness, an imperious smirk dancing over his lips. As if on cue, his own ear twinges in phantom pain and he nearly laughs out loud, brings his hand to caress and soothe the protesting lobe that's been on the receiving end of Beckett's grudge so many times.

A slightly offended and wounded look appears in his guy's eyes, but Castle cannot say he sympathizes. After all, the guy's got a fair warning. Beckett has already dismissed him from her thoughts, turned her back on the man in favor to face Lanie instead, but Castle notices Esposito shooting a warning glance to the guy, just for good measure. Castle wouldn't have guessed how glad that simple gesture could make him, but it does, so very much. He knows Kate's more than capable to look after herself, but it brings peace to his mind knowing that somebody is always there to watch her back, especially when he's not there. It doesn't take long for the guy to get lost in the crowd after that.

It's then when she turns her head in his direction, scanning the crowd absentmindedly, until her eyes abruptly stop on him. She freezes, her eyes gaining their sharp focus in an instant as she spots him across the many heads of the dancing crowd. He smiles at her then and he can see she's taken aback, a disbelieving look in her eyes as she takes her time to take him in. He cannot begrudge her that. After all, he wasn't supposed to be here, not the place and definitely not the time. He managed to catch a day early flight and – thanks to Lanie – found himself on his way to where she was straight from the airport.

Does that make him clingy? Probably. Does he care? Not at all, because God he's missed her _so_ _much_.

At last Beckett must realize it's really him who's standing there, rather than just a figment of her imagination, because before he knows it she is elbowing her way through the thick crowd and is in his arms in a matter of seconds, hugging him to herself as fiercely and closely as humanly possible.

"_Castle,_" she sighs still awed, his name leaving her lips like a prayer and he has to work hard not to crush her in his embrace right there upon hearing the single word falling from her lips like _that_. Instead, he chooses to hide his face in her hair, in the crook of her neck, inhales that intoxicating scent he's always associated with her. How is it even possible to miss another human being so much?

"You're home," she whispers loudly in his ear to overrule the droning music and a shiver runs down his spine, whether from their sudden proximity, her ardent tone or her choice of words he doesn't know. They stay like that, hugging at the edge of the dance floor, frozen amidst of a dancing crowd.

"Wrapped things up quicker, caught an early flight," he offers an explanation to his early arrival, omitting the part where he forced Paula to cram and squeeze as many business meetings and social events into as many days as possible only so he could return home on a shorter schedule. No need to feed Kate more ammunition as to who's the sissy in this relationship, they both already know it's him. Not that Kate seems to mind that much.

She finally withdraws her head from the crook of her neck to look at him, but her hands stay firmly linked behind his back. She observes him closely, that focused gleam in her eye like when she assesses a crime scene. He squirms a little under that scrutinizing look and that's his give-away. A sudden rush of tenderness steals through her features and she raises one of her hands to run it down the side of his face, cupping his stubbled cheek. Damn, another give-away. He should have shaven in the airport.

"You look tired," she observes, her thumb now running over the shadow under his eye, smoothing the skin. As if on cue, he feels the fatigue of the past rushed days spent with way too many late night meetings and too little sleep finally catching up with him and he leans into her touch a tad more heavily than necessary.

"You should have called me, I would have picked you up," she says with gentle reproach and his heart nearly bursts at the caring warmth in her voice.

_I didn't know when I would be home. I hopped on the plane the first chance I got. I didn't want to hold you away from your friends. I didn't want you to miss on the fun. I am not that clingy, I really am not. I wanted to surprise you. I missed you. I love you. _

"And miss _this_?" he says playfully instead, unabashedly seizing her up and down, his eyes devouring her lustfully while his hands come to roam her body freely. God, he is really allowed to do that, in public nonetheless, isn't he?

Her eyes darken and she steps even closer, her hands doing a not so innocent exploration of their own, shielded by the other dancers as well as the darkness of the club. She brings her lips to his ear, her body pressing tightly against his, all sexy curves and pliant flesh.

"Dance with me, Castle," she whispers into his lobe before catching it in her teeth, tugging and licking at his flesh shamelessly. His body shudders, suddenly on fire, all of his previously felt fatigue gone in a flash.

"Only if I can grope you without getting my wrists twisted behind my back like that poor fella out there," he replies cheekily, his eyes wandering pointedly back to the dance floor somewhere where Lanie and Espo are still doing their wild dance. A knowing smirk plays on his lips as he watches her eyes go wide, her face all surprised looks and cheeks tinged crimson.

He merely grins at her before he finally, _finally_, closes the distance between them in a searing kiss. God it's been too damn long. Her lips are warm and moist and oh so yielding, her tongue hot and sweet in his mouth. He can barely breathe once they break up, panting hard. He's looking at her through heavy-lidded eyes, momentarily dazed and more than a little wobbly on his legs.

She laughs at him, his state of arousal and resulting helpless confusion obviously not lost to her but she takes mercy on him, runs her hands soothingly through his hair, over the sides of his face, her fingernails lightly grazing his ears before she gently bumps their foreheads together, stays that way. The smile playing over her lips is soft yet wide and genuine, completely unbothered. She laughs throatily again, happiness oozing from her every pore just by the sight of him. It still manages to stun him. She looks so happy, so free, so..._light._ He likes to think he is part of the reason behind that maddeningly beautiful smile. He knows he will do anything to make her smile like that for the rest of his life.

"Groping is mandatory," she says, and it takes his hazed mind a moment to catch on their previous conversation. She turns to the dance floor, pointedly looks at the two couples she came here today with. Ryan a Jenny are so tightly glued together Castle has a hard time distinguishing who is who anymore. As for Esposito and Lanie, well, let's say they are not far from what Castle would consider display of public indecency.

Beckett turns her head back to him. With a dangerous, carnal gleam in her eye, she grabs the sides of his collar to glue her frame to his body even tighter, a provocative hiss leaving her lips when his pelvis collides with hers. Her voice's dripping with lust as she demands; "Because Castle, _oh Castle_," her voice drops an octave, her lips brushing his own as she speaks, "I want _our _dance to put those four to shame."

God, she will be the death of him. But it's going to be a very, _very_ happy death.

xxx

_A/N: Reviews totally make my heart race faster. Please, share your thoughts._


End file.
